The news has been filled with stories about institutions (e.g., universities and law firms) being forced to examine and act upon their priorities. The priorities of an organization's leaders will shape its behavior, which means understanding those priorities should itself be a priority for a faithful leader seeking to lead with faithful integrity through business a better way toward...
In prior posts we have emphasized that leading with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing requires a continual balancing of the call to be courageous and the need to be wise in determining "HOW" to integrate faith and work, with the most faithful balance being courage tempered by wisdom. "Wait, Just Don't Delay" is about the...
Leading with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing requires getting across four "gaps": Sunday/Monday, Sacred/Secular, Knowing/Doing and Safety/Surrender. Unfortunately, because of business as usual pressure and faith as usual detours, many well-intentioned leaders get stuck, never "hopping" or "leaping". The first three are "wisdom" gaps, and the journey across those "gaps" starts with RENEW--renewing the faithful...
INTEGRITY IDEA: Seek Moses Managers "Seek Moses Managers" is about implementing promotion, recruiting, hiring, selection, and training practices for managers that prioritize the qualities Moses used when recruiting chiefs in Exodus 18:21-24. It is about prioritizing Biblical excellence, Biblical diversity, cultural fit, and character. "Seek Moses Managers" recognizes the importance of good managers to employee engagement and flourishing, to the implementation...
INTEGRITY IDEA: Grow Gratitude "Grow Gratitude" is about implementing practices to help employees experience feelings of gratitude. It recognizes that feeling gratitude has been shown to enhance flourishing and wellness in people, which should be a priority in an organization pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing. In a world filled with negativity that promotes...
INTEGRITY IDEA: Share the Spoils "Share the Spoils" is about prayerfully considering compensation and recognition practices that recognize the contributions of all employees to the success of the organization. It is following the example of King David when he defeated the Amalekites, following their raid of the city of Ziklag. "Share the Spoils" recognizes that senior executives, top salespeople and big...
We have emphasized in many posts that simply doing the right thing is not enough. Faithful leaders pursuing faith/work integration must continually examine their hearts to ensure they are doing the right thing in the right way and, most importantly, for the right reasons. WHY matters. As 2025 kicks off, it seems like a good time to remember the right...
INTEGRITY IDEA: Plant a Tree in 2025 "Plant a Tree in 2025" is not about literally planting a tree. It is inspired by a quote frequently (and apparently inaccurately) attributed to Martin Luther. It is about a faithful leader committing to make one change or take one initiative in their organization that "adds to the beauty" of the world. One of...
Sometimes good-intentioned faithful leaders sprinkle faith "reindeer dust"--overt faith symbols and practices--believing that it is faith/work integration. It isn't bad, and it can be very good, but by itself it falls into the category of what we call "religious stewardship"--incorporating faith activities into work and making positive cultural changes but stopping short of true heart transformation. It is not the...
Recent headlines have highlighted a number of organizations that we think have been operating "in the Twilight Zone" of business as usual--business in the way of the world. (Our reference is to a famous TZ episode in which aliens were exposed as wanting people for an entree rather than as dinner guests.) In God's design, work is a vehicle for...
Gallup recently announced that we are in the middle of what they are calling "The Great Detachment". Like the Great Resignation, we believe at the heart of the Great Detachment are organizational cultures that are dehumanizing. God made us to flourish through work, and we are less fully human when not reflecting our God-given creativity and productivity through work that...
We are continuing a tradition with a silly but hopefully meaningful analogy. If Thanksgiving was your business, what would represent the turkey--the centerpiece of the table? In business as usual aligned with the beliefs, principles and priorities of the kingdom of the world, the turkey is usually profit. In business a better way aligned with the beliefs, principles and priorities...
Over the last five years, we have been laying out and expanding on a model for moving toward what we call Integriosity®--leading with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing. It is time to pause, take a breath and look back over the last 250 posts as we did after 100 and 200. We hope this is...
You could call this post the third in a "Safety/Surrender" series. It is about encouraging faithful leaders to trust God enough to answer the call of stewardship, and embrace fully the potential, of the Creation Mandate by crossing the Safety/Surrender Gap. We believe it is a call to lead with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing,...
In prior posts, we have talked about three "gaps" a faithful leader must cross in the journey toward leading with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing. These are "wisdom" or "knowledge" gaps. There is a fourth, and it is arguably the most important of all. We call it the Safety/Surrender Gap, and it is a "heart"...
Is the word "integrity" enough to guide a faithful leader on the ancient path to aligning the purpose, values and culture of an organization in a way that leads the organization and its people to do the right things, in the right ways, for the right reasons, without even thinking? There are two key aspects to the meaning of "integrity"--one...
INTEGRITY IDEA: Recognize "AvoDay" (not Labor Day) COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): Practices COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Overt STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees "Recognize AvoDay (Not Labor Day)" is about using the U.S. national holiday of Labor Day as an opportunity to speak life into work by referencing the work-affirming word "Avodah" rather than the work-devaluing word "Labor". It...
INTEGRITY IDEA: Foster Financial Fitness COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): Practices COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly Covert STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees "Foster Financial Fitness" is about adopting practices and benefits that are specifically designed to encourage and support the financial literacy and fitness of employees and their families. It recognizes that financial instability, difficulties and stress can negatively...
With an increasing number of organizations and leaders pulling back from, abandoning, or coming out "against" worldly DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) initiatives, the search for an alternative acronym to embrace and be "for" has led to some highly visible leaders promoting MEI--"merit, excellence, intelligence". They argue that diversity will be a natural by-product of MEI. For leaders...
INTEGRITY IDEA: Waken Wellness COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): Practices COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly Covert STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees "Waken Wellness" is about adopting practices and benefits that are specifically designed to encourage and support the total wellness of employees, including physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness. It recognizes that an organization pursuing faithful integrity through...
INTEGRITY IDEA: Fortify Fitness COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): Practices COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly Covert STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees "Fortify Fitness" is about adopting practices and benefits that are specifically designed to encourage and support the physical fitness of employees. It recognizes that an organization pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing should...
INTEGRITY IDEA: Nurture Nutrition COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): Practices COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly Covert STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees "Nurture Nutrition" is about adopting practices and benefits that are specifically designed to encourage and support the nutritional health of employees. It recognizes that an organization pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing...
ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) and DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) initiatives remain in the news, but most recently it has been because organizations are dismantling (or at least disguising) their ESG and DEI programs. "Keep the ESG/DEI Baby (and Your Nose)" is about faithful leaders retaining a Biblical vision of "environmental, social and governance" and "diversity, equity and inclusion" matters...
INTEGRITY IDEA: Energize External Generosity COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): Practices COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly Covert STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees, Customers/Clients, Community, Kingdom Generosity is such a foundational Biblical principle to operating with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing that it is embedded in our word Integriosity®, which combines integrity and generosity. "Energize...
Business has the potential to beautify the world--or uglify it. “Beautiful” was clearly God's design when he created everything and declared it "very good", and “beautiful” is the word that comes to mind as you read the description of the New Jerusalem that is coming--God's Kingdom on earth. In between the beauty of a garden and the beauty of a...
Does faith/work integration require Overtly faithful practices? Leading an organization with faithful integrity in alignment with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities toward Biblical flourishing requires a continual prayerful balancing of the call to be Courageous through Overtness and the need to be Wise through Covertness. Both the idolization of Overtness and the fear of being Overt may lead to poor stewardship. Wisdom...
A life of faith is a life of choices. For a faithful leader, one of those choices is the "O" that drives their leadership. There are two options--obedience or outcome. It is a choice between the kingdom of this world and the Kingdom of God. It is one or the other--business as usual or business a better way. It is...
It is impossible to talk honestly about the WHAT, WHY and HOW of business in alignment with Biblical beliefs, values and priorities without addressing how profit fits in. Profit is NOT bad, and the creation by business of economic prosperity is good. Profit in a business is necessary for good stewardship of the business, which means it is necessary for...
As a faithful leader seeking to lead faithfully, you face a foundational choice between two starkly different options with profound implications. One option is business as usual — business in "the way of the world" or, more precisely, according to "the kingdom of this world." We call the other option business a better way — business aligned with Biblical beliefs,...
INTEGRITY IDEA: Discourage Winning COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): Practices COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly Covert STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees, Customers/Clients, Suppliers/Vendors "Discourage Winning" may be counter-cultural, but it is not about "encouraging losing". "Discourage Winning" is about cultivating an organizational culture that "encourages mutuality" in negotiations--looking for "win-win" results that take into account the needs and objectives...
INTEGRITY IDEA: Close the Gaps COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): People COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Overt STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees "Close the Gaps" is about organizing or facilitating study groups, or making available resources, that help employees get across the three "gaps" that can keep them from experiencing work as God intended it and that can make it...
INTEGRITY IDEA: Keep Controversy Within Your Mission COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): Policies COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly Covert STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Kingdom We don't mean that an organization should have a controversial mission. "Keep Controversy Within Your Mission" is about putting in place policies and practices to ensure that the organization is prepared to take positions on...
INTEGRITY IDEA: Re-Imagine the Box COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): Practices COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly Covert STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Owners, Employees, Customers/Clients Most Integrity Ideas are practical actions toward implementing a bigger WHY for the organization. "Re-Imagine the Box" is about re-imagining the traditional "Suggestion Box" by putting in place practices to ensure that the ideas, wisdom,...
INTEGRITY IDEA: Don’t “Toolify” Humans COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): People COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly Covert STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees Most Integrity Ideas are practical actions toward implementing a bigger WHY for the organization. “Don’t Toolify Humans” is more fundamental, because it is a reminder of the most important priority shift needed for an organization to align...
INTEGRITY IDEA: Take Steps to PPP COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): Practices COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly Covert STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Kingdom Most Integrity Ideas are practical actions toward implementing a bigger WHY for the organization. “Take Steps To PPP” is about taking steps to Protect your Purpose from Profiteers. Part of implementing a bigger...
Most faithful leaders are not CEOs or business owners--they are leading from somewhere in the middle, whether they are leading a division, department, business unit, team or project, supervising many people or one person, or simply leading by example as part of a team. But God's call to faithful leadership and faithful integrity is not limited to owners and CEOs. ...
Giving generously from wealth is a very good thing both for faithful leaders personally and for the businesses they lead, but faithful integrity and business a better way demand more. Many organizations do important and excellent work helping faithful leaders understand the importance of being generous with their wealth. However, by itself, the message of "give generously" can draw a...
Sometimes good-intentioned faithful leaders sprinkle faith "reindeer dust"--overt faith symbols and practices--believing that it is faith/work integration. It isn't bad, and it can be very good, but by itself it is not leading with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing. By itself, sprinkling "faith" reindeer dust without transforming how the organization actually does business is what...
Over the last four years, we have been laying out and expanding on a model for moving toward what we call Integriosity®--leading with faithful integrity through business a better way and toward Biblical flourishing. It is time to pause, take a breath and look back over the last 200 posts as we did after 100. We hope this is a...
Integrous "helps faithful leaders lead with faithful integrity toward Biblical flourishing". Our belief is that the bigger WHY of an organization aligned with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities should be to maximize flourishing (rather than profit) by Humanizing People, Beautifying the World and Glorifying God, properly positioning profit as a necessary means to that end. When we talk about flourishing,...
Are you in (still in? always in?) a Thanksgiving mood! Get ready for a silly but hopefully meaningful analogy. If Thanksgiving was your business, what would "profit" represent in the Thanksgiving preparation and meal? Remember, profit is NOT bad, and the creation by business of economic prosperity is good. Profit in a business is necessary for good stewardship of the...
The first step on the ancient path from the "as usuals" of business as usual, work as usual, and faith as usual to "a better way" is RENEW, and the first step of RENEW is reordering disordered priorities to "Keep First Things First". The last of the four first principles embedded in the word Integriosity is Humility, and it is the key to understanding the...
Don’t worry--this is not about the U.S. Southern border, Eastern European borders or Middle Eastern borders. It is about the border between the kingdom of the world and the Kingdom of God. Kingdom border protection is trickier than geographic border protection because a faithful leader resides in both kingdoms and the border exists in the heart of the leader and...
ESSENCE: The first step on the ancient path from the "as usuals" of business as usual, work as usual, and faith as usual to "a better way" is RENEW, and the first step of RENEW is reordering disordered priorities to "Keep First Things First". When "all the Law and the Prophets" depend on the commandments to love God and love your...
The first step on the ancient path from the "as usuals" of business as usual, work as usual, and faith as usual to "a better way" is RENEW, and the first step of RENEW is reordering disordered priorities to "Keep First Things First". If a faithful leader or an organization is committed to "seek first the kingdom of God" (Matthew...
Integrous Founder Paul Michalski was a guest speaker at the biennial conference of the Kingdom International Legal Network (KILN). The 2023 KILN Conference was organized in partnership with the Kenya Christian Lawyers Fellowship (KCLF) and drew lawyers from across the globe, including Australia, Germany, Ghana, Kenya, Fiji, Nigeria, Rwanda, Singapore, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, the United Kingdom and...
ESSENCE: Integrity Ideas are specific actions a faithful leader can consider in leading faithfully through business a better way. INTEGRITY IDEA: Embrace "Biblical ESG" COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): Proclamation and Practices COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Overt STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees, Customers/Clients, Owners, Suppliers/Vendors, Community, Kingdom Most Integrity Ideas are practical actions toward implementing a bigger WHY for the...
ESSENCE: Integrity Ideas are specific actions a faithful leader can consider in leading faithfully through business a better way. INTEGRITY IDEA: Embrace "Biblical DEI" COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): Proclamation and Practices COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Overt STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees, Suppliers/Vendors, Kingdom Most Integrity Ideas are practical actions toward implementing a bigger WHY for the organization. "Embrace Biblical...
Words are important and powerful, and the culture of the world is filled with words that blind us to God’s purpose for work and business. In particular, the concept of "retirement" from "work" is built on a deception about the very nature of "work" and why we were created. Not only does "retirement" rob a person of their God-given purpose...
ESSENCE: Integrity Ideas are specific actions a faithful leader can consider in leading faithfully through business a better way. INTEGRITY IDEA: Optimize Compensation COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): Practices COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly Covert STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees, Customers/Clients, Owners, Community, Kingdom Most Integrity Ideas are practical actions toward implementing a bigger WHY for the organization. "Optimize Compensation"...